From Death I am Reborn
by TheSilverboar
Summary: What if, after dying on New Island, Ash had matured, that the event changed him if Mewtwo didn't wipe his memory. Here's a story about what could have happened. (I know the summary sucks but it makes more sense if you read)
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This begins just after the first Pokémon Movie and there are a few changes. The major one is that Mewtwo doesn't wipe their minds meaning Ash remembers dying which I think would mature him greatly and give him a new outlook on life. There are a few more differences but you'll see as you read.**

From Death I am Reborn

Chapter 1

-Ash-

Sighing he laid back on the roof of his home as he stared up at the stars, his mind lost in thought as he remembered what had happened to him a few days before. The events of New Island…the battle between the clones and the originals…dying at the hands of two legendaries…it was almost more than he could process. After he had been brought back, he theorized that the barriers between the worlds was thin due to the massive amounts of energies released by the two clashing legendaries allowing a catalyst, in this case being the despairing emotions of the Pokémon, to bring his soul back into his body and reverse his stone transformation.

Mewtwo had planned on erasing his memory, along with the others, but he pointed out that Mewtwo openly stated he had learned an important lesson but if they had their minds wiped they would have learned nothing. Mewtwo wasn't happy about it but knew he was right and accepted it, after getting them all to promise not to tell anyone about the existence of the Clones. As soon as he got back to Pallet town he had gathered all of his Pokémon at the Professor's Ranch to try and hash out a training plan for the Upcoming Indigo Conference in three months.

-Flashback-

Getting out onto the ranch he grinned as he looked at Pikachu and gave a nod causing his starter to grin widely and fire a massive thunderbolt up into the air as the ground beneath his feet quickly started shaking before he saw a stampede of thirty Tauros along with his Muk and Krabby. "Hey guys." he said happily as he stroked Krabby's shell and gave each of his Tauros some attention before being glomped by a happy Muk. "Alright, alright," he called out as he clambered out from his exuberant Pokémon "just let me release the others. I want to go over a training schedule so we can get ready for the Conference in a few months.". At those words Pikachu cheered happily as did Krabby and Muk while his Tauros roared in joy.

"Alright guys, come on out!" he yelled as he threw his Pokéballs into the air and released Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Pigeotto, Charizard, and Primeape who he had gotten transferred back to him from Anthony. "Alright everybody," he said to the now released Pokémon "we need to hash out a training schedule for the Conference coming up. First I'd like-" he wasn't able to go any farther before Charizard roared and fired a flamethrower at him as he dove to the ground, not feeling like taking a second trip to the afterlife before the draconic fire Pokémon flew off and went to sleep.

"Oh…" he said softly as he had to fight to keep his tears from leaking out "I…I guess we'll work with Charizard later." As he continued to work with his other Pokémon he had to fight hard not to cry…having hoped that Charizard's tears upon his earlier death meant that the fire Pokémon was once again his friend.

-End Flashback-

Shaking his head to leave the memory he wiped away the lone tear that fell down his eye before sighing as he knew what he had to do. Crawling back into his bedroom he made sure Pikachu was settled before grabbing Charizard's Pokéballs and walking out of the house, following the road until he got to Professor Oak's land and stepped just inside the Ranch, ignoring the sleeping Pokémon off in the distance.

Silently he pressed the button on the Pokéballs as Charizard popped out and looked like it was about to roar, and possibly release a flame thrower, when he coldly commanded "Charizard…shut up." Causing the massive fire dragon to stare at him in shock. "I'm going to get right to the point Charizard," he said as he tried to avoid breaking down just as his heart began to shatter "I'm going to give you two choices right here and now. The first is that you shape up and start listening to me as your trainer and as your friend…" Charizard looked like it was going to answer him with a flamethrower at that point so he continued "and the second is that you smash your damn Pokéballs and leave.".

At those words Charizard actually stumbled back from the shock of his statement, the dragon's eyes wide at what he had stated. "I'm tired Charizard," he said as his voice began to crack "I'm tired of…of trying to help you, of trying to be your friend…of trying to have you as part of my family when all you do is treat my efforts with scorn and disgust. Was…was all that we went through when you were a Charmander really so meaningless to you?". At this point he felt the tears begin to fall and knew he wouldn't be able to stop them so he pressed on before he lost what little nerve he had left "I still want to be your friend Charizard…for you to be part of your family…but I'm not going to keep you here if you don't want that. So the choice is up to you. I'll be back here in the morning to train with the others. If you're still here then I'll know you still want to be my friend. And if you're not….well I wish you happiness wherever your heart may take you.". and with that he pressed Charizard's Pokéballs into the stunned dragon's clawed hand before turning around and walking back to his home to cry himself to sleep, not noticing his eyes beginning to shift and change, developing a hint of dark purple in the usual brown orbs.

-Charizard-

The crackling of his tail fire was the only sound that accompanied him as he sat upon the cliffs of the Oak Ranch, staring at the Pokéballs in his hand as he thought back to what his trai-…to what Ash had said to him. He didn't deserve to call Ash his trainer after the things he'd done….after how he'd treated his first and truest friend. Ever since he had evolved he had spat upon everything Ash had done for him since that day in the rain…and he couldn't loathe himself more than he did now. At first he had felt that Ash was abandoning him and had very nearly shattered his Pokéballs before he froze, remembering the agony in Ash's eyes, the suffering in the human's voice as Ash lamented about the loss of their friendship….and he felt horror and disgust with himself at that one, startling, realization…he had become like Damien.

He had refused to listen to Ash because he thought Ash was weak when he was now strong, he had attacked Ash because he felt he was strong and Ash wasn't…he had hurt Ash because of what he had thought…just as Damien had done to him. The question he struggled with now though wasn't if he felt Ash was worthy of being his trainer and having his friendship…the question he asked himself was if he was worthy to even be on Ash's team.

-Ash-

Sighing he splashed some water onto his fast as he stared at his bloodshot eyes in the mirror, shrugging off the flecks of dark purple as a trick of the light or a result of him not being able to get to sleep until a few scant hours ago after he finally succumbed to exhaustion. "Ash!" his mother called up to him "Breakfast is ready! Come on down!".

"Be there in a moment!" he called back as he sighed and hoped nobody would notice how his eyes were somewhat bloodshot. Toweling off his face he walked downstairs and saw his mom laughing happily along with Brock and Misty as they played keep away with Pikachu using a bottle of Ketchup while the little mouse Pokémon tried in vain to steal it for his breakfast.

Chuckling softly he walked over silently and, just as Pikachu was about to get the bottle, snatched it up as his starter tumbled and looked up at him with a pout while the three other humans laughed happily at the sight. After getting in a chuckle or two of his own he handed his little starter the bottle as the electric mouse's face lit up with glee and the thundric titan began chugging down the red substance.

"Are you alright Ash," his mom spoke up with a frown as he looked over at her and saw the merriment slipping away from their faces, Pikachu doing the same after looking up from the bottle of Ketchup "and your eyes are bloodshot…have you been crying?".

Sighing he sat down in the chair and ran a hand across his face before explaining the ultimatum he had given Charizard the night before. Mist had looked like she was about to start a rant at him before his mom placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, "You did the right thing Ash," she told him as he placed his hand over hers, drawing strength from the maternal comfort "you can't force Charizard to stay with you or else things will only get worse. I hope he chooses to stay, I truly do, but it's his decision to make now.".

"I know mom." He said as he stood up and hugged her tightly, trying to convey through that simple contact how much her words meant to him.

"So Ash," Brock spoke up after a moment "what are we gonna do for the next three months before the Conference?".

"Actually," he said with a wince as he decided to reveal a decision he had made "I think I need to journey by myself for a little while.".

"WHAT?!" Brock and Misty yelled in shock as he winced before holding his hands up pleadingly for a chance to explain.

"Let me explain!" he said quickly and, after getting stiff nods, elaborated "We've been travelling together for a year now guys and while we've visited my mom…have you guys been able to see your families since we left your home cities?" both Brock and Misty winced at that statement. "I want to give you two time to spend with your families and…my gut is telling me that I need to do this. To just go out and travel, training with my team and maybe even catching some new ones as we work on connecting with each other. And…well I need to learn to stand on my own two feet, to see if I can actually be strong enough to get by without Misty to knock some sense into my head to get me focused or Brock to get me on the right trail or to cook. I…I need to see if I'm actually worth anything by myself or if I only got as far as I did because you guys were there to pick up my slack.".

"You…you're right Ash." Brock sighed "I left my gym because I wanted to see the world and see if I could make it outside of the Gym life, same here with Misty…we can't take the chance to learn that from you. But know this," here Brock gave him a smirk "we're both going to be with you at the Conference, cheering you on every step of the way.".

"Thanks Brock," he said gratefully as he gave the Rock trainer a 'bro hug' before turning to Misty and staggering back as she pulled him into a back breaking embrace "you too Mist." He whispered as he returned the fierce hug.

"Well tomorrow I'll cook you three a big breakfast before you all go on your way," his mom said with a small smile at them "I know that Ash will want to get started right away and you two will likely want to see your families again.".

"Thanks mom," he said gratefully before glancing at the clock and sighing "I'm going to eat and then…then I'm going to go see what Charizard's decision was.".

Nodding his mom ran her fingers through his hair and placed a soft kiss on his forehead before placing a stack of pancakes in front of him as he slowly began eating, idly noting that ever since he died his appetite had been dulled somewhat. Thirty minutes later he was walking along the dirt road to the Oak Ranch, his mind on only one thing…what would be Charizard's decision.

 **AN: Alright peoples of the internet, as you can see this is going to be a, hopefully, intriguing story. Over the three month period I intend for Ash to catch a few Pokémon. I have about ten already selected, you can find out which ones as the story progresses, but I am more than willing to listen to any requests for new Pokémon in a review. Just list them down there and if I like it, and it wasn't already one that I had planned to use, then I'll give that person a shout out in the chapter where it shows up. Also, while one of the Pokémon he gets isn't going to be a Kanto native, I would like for all the others to be or at the very least from Johto.**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Hey people. Before I begin I'd like to address a review I got from the last chapter. The person asked if I knew I put the Altomare Bianca instead of the Unova one and that I had made a mistake…but I actually didn't. I knew EXACTLY who I was putting and actually like her as a character and the movie she stared in was my favorite of the Pokémon movies. So it was NOT a mistake.**

 **AN2: You'll find that in this chapter I seem to cut off at a few strange points…well that wasn't an accident. I'm not revealing exactly what Ash and his Pokémon will be training in until the Pokémon league (which starts next chapter) and his training, as well as his new Pokémon, will be revealed throughout the tournament and explained in flashback so you don't get to know soon! (MWAHAHAHAHAHA)…well for the most part. You will see a couple of his new Pokémon this chapter and next chapter starts the conference.**

From Death I am Reborn

Chapter 2

-Ash-

Stepping over the property line of the Oak Ranch he gave Pikachu a shaky nod as the diminutive electric starter fired a thunderbolt into the sky to call the various Pokémon over. First to arrive was Pigeotto who nuzzled him before noticing his shaken appearance and began asking Pikachu what was wrong. Next the ground began to shake beneath his feet as his heard of Tauros charged over, Primeape in their midst, with Squirtle, Krabby, and Bulbasaur riding on their backs while Muk brought up the rear.

Gazing around at the horde of Pokémon that surrounded him…he felt despair and heartbreak. No matter where he looked in the mass of Pokémon he saw no sign of an orange fire dragon…no sign of Charizard. Pikachu was able to instantly see his despair as well as realize the reason for it, as did Pigeotto who he assumed had learned of what had happened by Pikachu.

Taking in a shaky breath he was about to try and explain to his Pokémon, his family, why Charizard wouldn't be around anymore when a draconian roar shook the world from heavens to earth. Whipping his head in the direction of the noise he saw Charizard flying straight at him, diving down at a breakneck speed before angling up, pulling out of the dive and landing with a crash in front of him.

As Charizard stared at him, and the adrenaline of the stunt wore off, the massive powerhouse looked down almost…almost shamefully before hesitantly offering out the Pokéball with a sad sounding huff. Looking into his friend's eyes he saw regret, he saw shame, he saw fear…but most of all he saw determination, a drive to right the wrongs that had been done in their relationship. Smiling widely at his friend he accepted the Pokéball before clipping it onto his belt and giving the fully evolved fire dragon a massive hug which was happily returned as the rest of his Pokémon, after getting over their shock of Charizard _not_ trying to turn him into a barbeque, roared happily and joined in onto the hug, glomping him as the happy hug dissolved into a dogpile.

"Alright guys," he said with a wide grin, "we've got some training to do! Three months from now we'll be battling in the Indigo Conference and I intend to show the world our power.". Loud roars met his statement as fire burned in his pokemon's eyes, a passion for victory that couldn't be quenched. "But we won't be training here," he continued as some of his Pokémon blinked in surprise "I plan to ask the Professor for a temporary team extension so I can take you all with me while we travel and, maybe, catch a few more family members.".

At his words the herd of thirty Tauros looked at each other before they huddled together, having a conversation in Pokéspeach for about thirty minutes, and then separating as a single Tauros, one that looked noticeably stronger than the rest, stepped forward proudly. "I'm guessing you're the herd leader?" he asked the single Tauros who let out a proud call and nodded as he hesitantly, not entirely sure about his understanding of the situation, asked "Are you saying that they want only you to travel with me?".

The lead Tauros nodded and let out several varying moos and portions of its name as he tried to interpret both the Pokéspeach and the facial expressions of his family member, "Y-you're saying that they feel that having all thirty of you travel with me would hinder the training of both everyone here and everyone not yet caught?" he asked "That…that you'll be trained and then teach them what you learn so they can get stronger and that whoever leads the herd will battle by my side while the others protect the ranch or whoever I make my home?". Tauros nodded happily before nuzzling him as he smiled and stroked the bovine pokemon's head.

"You know…it'll be kind of awkward trying to differentiate with thirty of you," he mused as he stroked the pokemon's head "how about you, as the leader, be called…Minos?". Tauros seemed to think about it before making one more attempt at conversing with him as he tried to translate "You're saying that should be the name of whichever leads the herd at whatever given time? More like a title than a name?", once more getting a happy roar.

"Alright guys," he said with a grin "I'm going to go talk to the professor about a team extension and when I get back we'll go over where we need to train to improve and we'll head out tomorrow.".

Walking into the lab he found the elderly Oak sitting at a computer, going over notes and research. "Hey Professor," he called out as the old man blearily looked up from the computer screen, looking more like a zombie than a human "I was wondering if I could get a team extension so I can take the rest of my Pokémon with me as I journey around to train before the convergence…or some of them anyway. My Tauros elected that the herd leader travel with me while the rest stay here to protect the ranch.".

"Of course Ash," the Professor said with a smile "there's actually no rule about how many Pokémon you can take with you, the only limit cap is on how may can be used in a battle. Most people just stick with the six because they can't work with too many at once or afford to feed them all.".

"Thanks Professor," he said gratefully as the elderly man took his Pokédex to input a few codes into it "this means a lot to me. I won't let you, or Pallet Town, down.".

"I know you won't Ash," the Professor said with a proud smile "you and Gary are the finest young trainers I've seen in years and I know you'll bring glory to this town.".

Stiffening a wince at the name of his rival, he smiled gratefully and took back his Pokédex before going out with his Pokémon and leading them over to an isolated lake on the Ranch so they could go over each other's strengths and weaknesses to devise a training schedule. "Alright," he said once they were settled "let's go over this one by one starting with Pikachu.". and so they went over each other's strengths and weaknesses for the next few hours.

The next day he could be found just outside of Pallet Town, Pikachu on his shoulder and the rest of his Pokémon in Pokéballs on his belt and the inside of his jacket. Noticing a river coming up he grinned and ribbed Misty as he gestured towards the water, "Hey Mist," he called out "look familiar?".

At his question he could feel the girl's irritation as she glared at him, "Yeah, it's where you barbequed my bike!" as she finished her statement she brought out her hammer and swung it at him as he dodged "And you still haven't paid for it yet!".

"Back evil she beast!" he yelled out in mock panic as he ran and hid behind a cackling Brock "The Damn thing's already fixed!".

At his statement Misty blinked at him in confusion as the hammer slipped from her fingers, "Um…huh?" Misty asked confused as he sighed and explained.

"The Nurse Joy of Viridian likes fixing things in her spare time. I paid for the parts she used to fix the bike as well as for the labor put into it with my winnings from my various battles." He told them as they gave an 'ah' of understanding.

"So how are you guys going to get to Pewter and Cerulean?" he asked them after they had walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes.

"We're taking a bus that will drop me off at Pewter and then take Misty to Cerulean so that we can skip Viridian forest and the bugs." Brock explained as Misty shuddered, muttering about 'unholy abominations' causing him to snort at her over the top fear.

Sure enough, after getting to Viridian an hour later, they found the bus waiting for the two gym leaders as he stared at them awkwardly, "Well…I guess this is it then." He said sadly, knowing that he had to do this but also not wanting to leave his constant travelling companions for the past year.

"Chin up there Ash," Brock said with a weak smile but he could see that the rock gym leader was sad as well "we'll see each other again in a couple months when you win the Indigo League.".

"If he gets past the first round." Mist teased causing him to glare playfully before giving them one last massive hug before they boarded their bus and it drove off. Sensing his sadness Pikachu nuzzled his cheek with a small coo as he smiled gratefully and scratched the little starter behind the ear, getting a happy 'Cha' in response before he turned towards a small forest area to the west of Viridian. While the path normally led up to Mount Silver, which is where he knew the Johto Silver Conference as well as the Kanto and Johto elite four resided, and normally was blocked off to travelers but with eight badges he should be allowed to visit at least a limited part of it and maybe find a few new Pokémon.

"Be careful up there," the gate guard for the Mountain warned him after he showed his badges to gain access, "there are rumors of a gang of Pokémon Poachers on the mountain. They used to be trainers but had their licenses revoked for abuse.".

Growling at the knowledge he nodded, not realizing that his anger was causing his eyes to gain more purple than they had before, and promised "Don't worry. If I see them…well we'll just have to see how they like getting blasted off the mountain by my Charizard's flamethrower.".

"Ten extra points if you make them land in front of the Police Station." The guard retorted with a smirk as he shook the man's hand.

"Challenge accepted." He grinned before walking towards Mount Silver, finding a trail up the mountain and walking, finding surprisingly few Pokémon as he walked…until, after a few hours he heard the sounds of machines going off, of human's yelling in anger…and Pokémon yelling in fear.

Shooting forward he ran towards the sounds, dashing in between trees as he tried to get closer and closer to the sounds, sliding to a stop in front of a cliff before looking down to see a group, who he could tell were the poachers that he had been warned about, trying to shoot a male Nidoran as well as another small Pokémon that was green with electric net launchers.

Seeing this vile act, the cruel methods being used to capture the two small Pokémon as well as the other Pokémon the he noticed in an electric cage on a truck…he snapped, not realizing that his eyes had fully changed, not a dark purple with swirling black smoky designs constantly shifting within his iris. Letting his instincts take over he let out a furious roar before leaping off the cliff and down at the poachers who looked up at the sound and, in their panic, fired the electric net at him…only for it to be sliced in half as he swung his hand at it, each of his fingers covered in an ethereal purple claw that let of tendrils of black mist, noting the same thing on his other hand as well, before he landed on the ground with a thud but no damage from the massive drop.

"You know," he growled lowly as Pikachu leapt off his shoulder, lightning arcing off his starter's electricity pouches, "I _really_ hate poachers.".

"Get out of here kid," a large buff man that he assumed was the leader said with a scowl "this doesn't concern you. So leave before we decide to…remove you.".

"Wrong thing to say bub." He snarled before shooting forward, ducking under the nets fired at him and slicing through the man's net launcher, as well as those of the other poachers. His somehow enhanced fingers cutting clear through the metal with no resistance.

Ducking under a knife slash from the leader he kicked out, causing the man to stumble back before he once again let his instincts act for him as the glowing claws faded from his fingers…and a black and purple orb appeared between his hands before, with a scream, he launched it at the poachers and blew them clear off the mountain and towards Viridian. Feeling his energy draining away he quickly moved over to the electric cage and barely managed to coat his fingers in the energy to cut through the bars before the last dregs of energy left him and he collapsed into blissful unconsciousness.


End file.
